Officials prepare for summer transition into new Franklin High

Saturday

May 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Matt TotaDaily News Staff

FRANKLIN — The moving crates have started arriving by the hundreds as administrators, students and teachers prepare to transition into their new high school, where doors officially open in September.From ceremonial shovels digging up a pile of fresh earth to forklifts raising the last long steel beams, construction zoomed along. In the two years since work began, crews have hit every deadline on schedule. And the finale comes on July 25, when general contractor Bacon & Agostini Construction hands the town the keys to its high school.Over the summer, school officials will be "very, very busy" prepping for Franklin High’s Sept. 2 opening, Principal Peter Light said at a recent School Committee meeting.The movers arrive on June 19 to begin packing things up into more than 1,800 crates.The current school, built in 1971, closes to the public on June 25. Eventually, the old building and the adjacent field house, itself a town relic, will be demolished to make way for a parking lot and sports fields.In July, staff will relocate to the Horace Mann Middle School; administrators move into the new school on July 7.In August, student tours and orientations kick off — first for freshmen on Aug. 15, then on Aug. 18, 19 and 20, for sophomores, juniors and seniors, respectively.A special student-run committee worked out details of the transition, even looking at how other school systems dealt with similar circumstances.Justin Bates, a freshman, said recently that the committee wanted to make sure students respect their $104.6 million edifice."We focused on improving the school’s culture, so that when we get into the new building, we treat it with the respect it deserves," Bates said.They decided to take a "lead by example" approach: student leaders — peer mentors, team captains and class officers — will run the orientations, he said.At first, teachers expressed feelings of trepidation about the move, said Chris Kelly, who has taught history at Franklin High for eight years. To help with the transition, teachers asked questions on an online forum.Kelly said those initial concerns have been replaced by "excitement and buzz for the new building." The teachers get to see their new classrooms on Aug. 28.Of course, there would not be a new school without the townspeople, who passed a debt exclusion override to help fund about 60 percent of it.Residents will have the opportunity to tour the new school on Sept. 20. More information about the tours will be released this summer.Matt Tota can be reached at 508-634-7521 or mtota@wickedlocal.com.